Wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media



Oct. 24, 1950 s. TOOGOOD 2,526,783

WIND AND REWIND momma FOR MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIA Filed Aug. s, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN! 'ENTOR. Loren 5 15050041 Y B $22M 6/ ATTORNEY Oct.24, 1950 Filed Aug. 6, 1945 L. S. TOOGOOD WIND AND REWIND MACHINE FORMAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIA 2 sneets -shut 2 BY I IN V EN TOR.

. Z/mO Patented Oct. 24, 1950 WIND AND REWIND MACHINE FUR MAGNETICRECORDING MEDIA Loren S. Toogood, La Grange, Ill., assignor to J. P.Seeburg Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a'corporation of IllinoisApplication August 6, 1945, Serial No. 609,187

12 Claims. (Cl. 242-54) This invention relates to machines for windingand rewinding wire recording media and is applicable to machines formaking recordings, machines for reproducing such recordings and tomachines which are capable of both these functions.

The invention relates primarily to a drive system for winding orrewinding at will from a single motor and to a switch control associatedtherewith.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved powerdrive for winding and rewinding magnetic recording media.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved switchsystem associated with the reversible drive. 1

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appearfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is anelevational view of a machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken on the line 4--4 ofFig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram.

The machine as a whole is carried on a mounting panel I which togetherwith a spaced parallel plate II and spacers l2 constitute the main frameof the machine. The recording media, which may suitably be wire I3 iscarried on two spools l4 and I mounted on the outer side of the panel Ion shafts l6 and I1 respectively. The spools are retained on the shaftsby means of spring pressed levers l3 which are pivotally mounted inslots in the outer extremities of the shafts and are arranged so thatthey can be turned around into slots on the outer face of the spools sothat the spools are rigidly mounted on the shafts. The shafts arerotatably mounted in bearings on the plates I II and II.

Each shaft carries a small brake drum I9 which is arranged to be engagedb a strip 20. The pressure exerted by the strip 20 is adjustable bymeans of a screw 2|. The strips 20 and the screws 2| are carried bybrackets 22 mounted on the plate ll One of the spools, for example spooll5, serves a the supply spool and the other is the take-up spool. Mostof the wire is initially on the spool I and to start recording orreproducing the spool I4 is driven so as to draw the supply of wirethrough the 'head 23. After the bulk of the wire has been transferredfrom the spool l5 to the spool H the drive stops and the spool I5 isdriven in the reverse direction so as to return the bulk of the wire tothe spool IS. The drive of the spools and also the limit switches whichterminate the drive when a desired quantity of the wire is transferredfrom one spool to the other will hereinafter be described. The shaft l6carries a rigid wheel 24. A rubber idler 26 is arranged to engage thewheel 24. The idler 26 is mounted on an arm 21 which is mounted on theunder side of the plate The shaft of the idler 23 extends upwardlythrough a slot 28 in the plate II and the idler 26 is biassed away fromthe wheel 24 by means of a spring 29. The slot 28 permits movement ofthe arm 21 to bring the idler into and out of engagement with the wheel24. The shaft ll carries a rubber tired wheel '25.

The spools l4 and I5 are driven by means of a motor 30 which is mountedon the under side of a plate 3|. The plate 3| is pivotally mounted at 32on the under side of the plate II and is also supported by means ofscrews 33 carried by the plate H and extending through arcuate slots 34in the plate 3|. The shaft of the motor carries a driving wheel 35 whichextends upwardly through a slot 36 in the plate so that it may engageeither the idler 26 or the wheel 25. The plate 3| is arranged to beswung into wind, rewinding and neutral positions by means of a crank pin31 which is carried at the lower end of a shaft 38. The shaft 38 isrotatably mounted in the plates Ill and II and at its upper end itcarries an actuating button 39. The crank pin 31 extends downwardlythrough a slot in the plate 3|. The shaft 33 carries an arm 40 whichcooperates with a spring detent 4| on the upper side of the plate I I soas to hold the shaft 38 in neutral position. This position is shown inFig. 3 and it is to be noted that the wheel 35 is out of engagement withboth the idler 26 and the wheel 25. An over-center spring 42 connectedto the crank pin 31 and to a pin 43 on the other side of the shaft 38from the crank pin 31 maintains the plate 3| and the motor 30 in eitherthe wind or rewinding position. The button 38 is shown in neutralposition in Fig. 2. When it is rotated in the clockwise direction theplate 3| and the motor 30 are swung to the right so that the wheel .35engages the wheel 25 to drive the spool l5. This is the rewind position.The wheel 35 is held against the wheel 25 by the spring 42. When thebutton 33 is swung in the opposite direction the plate II and the motor33 are carried to the left so that the wheel engages the idler 28 andswings it into engagement with the wheel 24. The overcenter spring 42applies pressure between the wheel 85 and the idler 28 and between theidler 28 and the wheel 24. Consequently the motor drives the spool I4for recording and play back.

It is preferred to control the motor circuit by the movements of themotor plate SI and preferably also by limit switches which break themotor circuit when suflicient wire has been wound or rewound, as thecase may be. For this purpose I preferably provide a single pole doublethrow switch 44, adjacent the motor plate 3|. One power line isconnected to one terminal of the motor 30. The other power line isconnected to the pole of the switch 44, 45. The pole of the switch 44,45 is engaged by a piece of insulation 45' carried by the plate 3I so asto move therewith. The other side of the switch 44 is connected to anormally closed limit switch 48 which is associated with the spool I4and the other side of the switch 45 is connected to a normally closedlimit switch 41 associated with the spool I5. The other sides of theswitches 48 and 41 are connected to the other terminal of the motor 30.Two contact arms 48 and 48 are arranged to engage the wire on the spoolsI4 and I5 respectively. These arms are carried on shafts 58 and 5I whichare rotatably mounted in the plates I0 and II. The arms 48 and 48 arebiassed towards the wire on the spools I4 and I5 respectively by springs52 and 53 which are connected to the plate II and to arms 54 and 55rigidly carried by the'shafts and 5I respectively. The arms 54 and carrypins 58 and 51 which are adapted to engage the control arms of theswitches 48 and 41 respectively which may suitably be microswitches. Theshafts 50 and 5| are provided with buttons or handles 58 and 58respectively so that the arms 48 and 48 may be swung clear of the spoolpositions when the spools are being mounted on or removed from themachine.

A level wind is provided to insure even distribution of the wire on thereceiving spool. This level wind suitably includes the recorder orpickup head 23 which engages the wire between the spools I4 and I5. Thehead 28 is carried on a plate 88 which is guided for movement by a pin Hwhich is parallel to the shafts I8 and I1 and is located in a slot 82 inthe plate 88. A. shaft 83 rotatably supported in the plate I0 extendsthrough a block 84 on the plate 80. The shaft 83 is driven from theshaft IT by means of a belt 85 which passes around pulleys 88 and 81carried by the shafts I1 and 83 respectively. Shaft 83 has an endlessthread 88 which is engaged by a detent 88 carried by a small cylinder I0which is rotatably mounted in the block 84. Itwill thus be understoodthat during winding or rewinding the shaft 88 is driven and that thehead 28 is moved upwardly and downwardly so as todistribute the wireevenly over the take-up spool. The pitch of the thread 88 and therelative speed of rotation of the shaft 88 are coordinated so as toprovide close and uniform distribution of the wire on the take-up spool.The operation is as follows:

The button 38 is in neutral position so that the motor plate 3| is inneutral position and both switches 44 and 45 are open so that the motoris not operating. The full spool is applied to the shaft I! and therelatively empty spool is applied to the shaft I8 and the wire isproperly engaged with the slot in the head 23 and the wire is made tautby manual manipulation of one of the spools.

The manual manipulation of the buttons 58 and 58 which the mounting ofthe spools entails has no effect on the motor circuit which is open atthe switches 44 and 45. The arm 48 contacts the relatively empty spooland the pin 58 holds the switch 48 closed. The button 88 is now moved incounterclockwise direction swinging the motor plate SI in clockwisedirection closing the switch 44 and bringing the wheel 35 into contactwith the idler 28 and bringing the idler into contact with the wheel 24.The circuit of the I motor is now completed through the closed switches44 and 48 and the motor drives the spool I4 in clockwise direction totake up the wire from the spool I5. As the wire is transferred to thespool I4 the arm 48 is progressively rotated in the counterclockwisedirection and when the spool I4 is filled to the desired extent the pin51 permits the switch 48 to open thus breaking the motor circuit. Thisis arranged to occur when only a small length of wire remains on thespool I5. Duringthis transfer of the wire a recording signal is appliedto the head 23 or a recording signal is derived therefrom forreproduction. In either event it is necessary to rewind the wire ontothe spool I5. The switch 41 is now closed since the arm 48 has movedinwardly of the spool I5. The button 38 is now rotated through itsneutral position into its rewind position swinging the motor plate 3I inthe counterclockwise direction, bringing the wheel 35 into engagementwith the wheel 25 and closing the switch 45. The motor circuit is nowcompleted and the motor goes into operation to drive the spool I5 incounterclockwise direction thus rewinding the wire. As the wire isreturned to the spool I5 the arm 48 moves progressively outwards andwhen substantially all the wire has been rewound the pin 51 permits theswitch 41 to open thus terminating the operation of the motor. Thebutton 38 is now moved to its neutral position and the spools may beremoved.

While either spindle may be employed to carry the pickup spool duringrecording or sound reproduction. I prefer to employ the shaft I8, thatis the shaft driven through the idler 28 for this purpose. The drivewheels 35 and 24 are rigid wheels. The idler 28 is resilient, beingpreferably made of rubber or rubber-like material. I find that higherfidelity is attained when operating in this manner which is apparentlydue to more uniform speed through the resilient idler 28. Variations ofpressure have no effect on the relative speeds between the wheels 35 and24 since the idler 28 is equally deformed in its two radii directedtoward the wheels 35 and 24. The drive wheel 25, which is preferablyused to drive the rewind wheel is suitably rubber tired. The speed ofthe rewind wheel is not so important but in order to reduce the timenecessary for rewind it is preferred to make the wheel 25 substantiallysmaller than the wheel 24.

Although the invention has been described in connection with thespecific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must beunderstood that such details are not intended to be limitative of theinvention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, a drive wheel on eachspindle, an idler wheel arranged sing said idler out of engagement withthe last mentioned drive wheel, an electric motor carrying a drivewheel, and means for movably supporting said motor whereby its drivewheel may be moved into engagement with the idler wheel to cause it toengage its associated spindle drive wheel, or into engagement with theother spindle drive wheel whereby either spindle may be driven by themotor to effect wind or rewind of the magnetic media from either spoolto the other.

2. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination. a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, a drive wheel on eachspindle, an idler wheel operatively associated with one spindle, anelectric motor carrying a drive wheel, means for movably supporting saidmotor whereby its drive wheel may be moved into engagement with theidler wheel associated with said one spindle or with the drive wheel ofthe other spindle whereby either spindle may be driven by the motor toeffect wind or rewind oi the magnetic media from either spool to theother, and releasable means for maintaining the supporting means at aneutral position with the motor drive wheel out of engagement with theidler and out of engagement with said other spindle drive wheel.

3. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, a drive wheel on eachspindle, an idler wheel operatively associated with one spindle, anelectric motor carrying a drive wheel, means for movably supporting saidmotor whereby its drive wheel may be moved into engagement with theidler wheel associated with said one spindle or with the drive wheel ofthe other spindle whereby either spindle may be driven by the motor toeffect wind or rewind of the magnetic media from either spool to theother, releasable means for maintaining the supporting means at aneutral position with the motor drive wheel out of engagement with theidler and out oi engagement with said other spindle drive wheel, andover-center spring means for blessing the supporting means into eitherof the operative positions of the motor.

4. In a machine for winding magnetic recording media for playing andrecording, in combination, a spindle for carrying a take-up spool forreceiving media during playing or recordin a rigid drive wheel on saidspindle, a motor having a rigid drive wheel for driving said spindle, anidler wheel having its peripheral portion of resilient materialinterposed between said drive wheels, means normally holding said idlerwheel clear of said rigid wheels, and actuable means for establishingoperative engagement between the idler wheel and both said rigid wheels.

5. In a machine for winding magnetic recording media for playing andrecording, and for rewinding the media thereafter, in combination, aspindle carrying a take-up spool for receiving media during playing orrecording, a rigid drive to engage one of said drive wheels, means bias-4 wheel on said spindle, an idler wheel having its A peripheral portionof resilient material arranged said wheels having their peripheralportions of resilient material, means normally maintaining the motordrive wheel clear or the wheels having their peripheral portions ofresilient material. and means normally maintaining the idler wheel clearof the rigid spindle wheel.

6. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair oi spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer 01' media from one spool to the other, a drive wheel on eachspindle, an idler wheel arranged to engage one of said drive wheels,means biassing said idler out of engagement with the last mentioneddrive wheel, an electric motor carrying a drive wheel, means for movablysupporting said motor whereby its drive wheel may be moved 'leasablemeans for maintaining the supporting means in neutral position with themotor drive wheel out of engagement with the idler wheel and the spindledrive wheel, said idler having its peripheral portion of resilientmaterial and the drive wheels engaged thereby being of rigid material.

7. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, a drive wheel on eachspindle, an idler wheel arranged to engage one of said drive wheels,means biassing said idler out of engagement with the last mentioneddrive wheel, an electric motor carrying a drive wheel, means for movablysupporting said motor whereby its drive wheel may be moved intoengagement with the idler wheel to cause it to engage its associatedspindle drive wheel, or into engagement with the other spindle drivewheel whereby either spindle may be driven by the motor to efiect windor rewind of the magnetic media from either spool to the other, andmeans for maintaining the supporting means in neutral position with themotor drive wheel out of engagement with the idler wheel and the spindledrive wheel, over-center spring means for biassing 'the supporting meansinto either of the operative positions of the motor, said idler wheelhaving its peripeheral portion of resilient material and the drivewheels engaged thereby being of rigid material.

8. In a wind or rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, drive means associatedwith each spindle, and an electric motor provided with drive means,means for movably supporting said motor whereby its drive means may bemoved into engagement with the drive means of either spindle to effectwind or rewind of the magnetic recording media from either spool to theother, and switch means actuable by said supporting means for completingthe motor circuit when the supporting means is moved into either of itsoperating positions.

9. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, drive means associatedwith each spindle, and an electric motor provided with drive means,means for movably supporting said motor whereby its drive assures meansmay be moved into engagement with the drive means of either spindle toeffect wind or rewind oi the magnetic recording media from either spoolto the other, yielding means for maintaining said supporting means inneutral position and switch means actuable by said supporting means foropening the motor circuit when the supporting means is in neutralposition and for completing the motor circuit when the supporting meansismoved into either of its operating positions.

10. In a wind or rewind machine for magnetic recording media,'incombination, a pairof spindles arranged to carry spools for the transferof media from one spool to the other, drive means associated with eachspindle, and an electric motor provided with drive means, means formovabiy supporting said motor whereby its drive means may be moved intoenga ement with the drive means 01' either spindle to efiect wind orrewind of the magnetic recording media from either spool to the other,switch means actuable by said supporting means for completing the motorcircuit when the supporting means is moved into either 01' its operatingpositions, and limit switch means arranged to cooperate with the mediato open the motor circuit when a predetermined amount of the media hasbeen transferred.

11. In a wind and rewind machine for magnetic recording media, incombination, a pair of spindles arranged to carry spools for thetransfer of media from one spool to the other, drive means associatedwith each spindle, and an electric motor provided with drive means,means for movto break the motor circuit when a predetermined amount ofmedia has been transferred to the take-up spool.

12. Inawindandrewindmachineformagnstio recording media, in combination,a pair of s andles arranged to carry spools for the transier of mediafrom one spool to the other, drive means associated with each spindle,an electrt:

- motor provided with'drive means, means for mov.

ably supporting said motor whereby its drive means may be moved intoengagement with the drive means of either spindle to eiiect wind andrewind oi the ma netic recording media from switch is closed when themotor is driving the second spool, and both the third and fourthswitches are open-in the neutral position of the supporting means, thethird switch being connected in series to the first switch and thefourth switch being connected in series to the second switch to providetwo parallel circuits, and a pair 01' power lines, one connected to themotor and the other connected to one side of both parallel circuits, theother side of said parallel cir-,

cuits being connected to the motor.

LORI-N B. TOOGOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthisv patent:

UNITED s'ra'rns PATENTS Number Name Date 947,148 Browne 'Jan. 18, 19101,842,881 Kaplan Sept. 20. 1927 2,888,856 Warwick Nov. 8. 1932 2,369,017Camras Feb. 8, 1945

